Yoga 13 crazy issues

So I picked up a Yoga 13 today, and I am facing lots of issues with it. They certainly seem software related, because at this time (2 BSODs later) it is running fast and responsive as I type this.

1. I had two BSODs in my first hour of use. Once, I was testing a flash movie on the chrome metro app, then once I closed chrome, I no longer had a mouse. I tried a few things to turn on the mouse, but then I got my first BSOD (non paged area). After a restart, it took about 30 seconds to open the chrome app. Then, it posted another BSOD, this time for thread stuck in device driver.

2. The performance has been terrible for the most part. Neither the SSD nor the CPU feel responsive at all. It takes many seconds to open any app, and device manager took over a minute. Task manager shows between 15-75% CPU utilization...

3. BLOATWARE!!! What's the best way of dealing with this? I'm used to clean Windows Pro installs from Dell business lines, so I really don't appreciate all the crap on here. Should I cleanse the install (what are the only things I need to keep?) or start from scratch with a Windows 8.1 pro install?

4. Touch doesn't seem responsive 100% of the time. This is a shame, as I can see when it registers all my touches really well, but then sometimes, it will not. I'm pretty sure it's just a driver or software setting...but any help appreciated.

5. What's the best way to remove fingerprints? Any safe liquids? I will be doing a deep clean then applying a matte screen protector.

I've only had it for a few hours, but I am really happy with it. the IPS screen is gorgeous, 900p is perfect for 13.3", and the keyboard isn't even bad (I steeled myself for worse). Right now, I've been working for 20 minutes with no issues and the performance has been enjoyable fast, but I really find it unacceptable to have 2 BSODs in an hour...my first hour no less!!

 

In the first hour?

It takes most users an hour, to download all the required MS updates, BEFORE they do their testing.

 

1. I've found Chrome runs better in Desktop mode, leaving IE as the default browser for 'Metro'... IE, believe it or not has better touch responsiveness. Windows8 and flash have a strange relationship... Chrome having flash built in and running as default, I'm not surprised to hear issues. BSODs though? I've had mine since October 2012 and never had a BSOD... actually, I've never even seen a BSOD on Win8 and I'm a full time IT specialist. Maybe you have a lemon?

2.) What are your power settings? From other threads, I've found using the Lenovo power mgmt tool, switch the power profile, then switch it back, helps performance.

3.) Mine had very little bloatware... you can right-click the shortcut on the 'metro' screen and uninstall it. It's not worth doing a fresh install and losing the "One Key Restore" option, IMHO.

4.) Touch - this is an issue by disabling power save on the touch drivers in the device manager. Well known in the huge thread Yoga Owners.

5.) Fingerprints - I only use microfiber, no liquids. Too afraid to hurt that beautiful screen.

If you have time, scan through the huge Yoga Owners thread... there's everything you could ever ask for in there, down to replacing RAM and adding a second SSD. Good luck!

 

Why would I download all the MS updates before knowing what they do? Especially since there appears to be a dreaded one that doesn't allow you to revert your touchpad drivers after you download it...

It appears to have been taken care of. It's been running more or less like butter since (the only other issue is that once, after coming out of sleep, the brightness buttons stopped working..)

This was an issue with "Device Association Framework" using like 90% of my CPU. I am not sure what happened to stop that, but it is fine now. I may have uninstalled Lenovo Eye and that did it. Also, uninstalling Intel DPTF fixed throttling in tablet mode that continued throughout.

Will try this if it ever happens. Thanks.

What is "One Key Restore?" I am going to remove my recovery partition anyway, I find it nonsense to be housed on the same HDD that could very well be corrupted. Will that affect "One Key Restore?"

Thanks, will do this once I find that device...

Thanks. I'll do the same, hoping they all come off. If not, 50% alcohol and 50% distilled water will be given a try. Any recommendations for cheap matte screen protectors? There's one on Amazon but it's $35 and apparently impossible to put on right...

Will do as soon as I can! Till then, I do have some questions if someone has the time to answer them.

2. Is it safe to uninstall Lenovo Transition? It seems to do nothing (I accidentally closed it once), and the turning off of KB+Touchpad seems to be built into the BIOS, not into any software.
4. What is Vhid and can I get rid of it?
6. Most importantly...can I delete ALL of these partitions? I don't care for recovery at all!


Thanks so much!

PS: According to a comment in this link, I should NOT upgrade my graphics drivers, as the screen rotation (and who knows what else) won't work. Dang! If that is the case, is there any way to remap the "rotation lock" button to actually be "rotation switch"? If so, that would solve all the problems!

 

Bump...less questions this time

 

Great questions...

Yes, remove Lenovo Transition... I believe that has to do with the Motion control software Leovo uses with the webcam... I could be wrong here. I know I've never used it.

Vhid - I'm not 100% sure what vhid is, but "HID" usually means "Human interface device" and it's likely touchscreen related. I know the Yoga lists 6-8 HID Devices in device manager. My understanding is they all need to be running and live for your touchscreen to work properly. I'm sure someone else could give more detail for you.

Lenovo's "One Key Restore" is actually a pretty cool technology... OKR is software including a full factory image of your machine on one of those hidden partitions. It's also built in to the OKR button (little round button next to your power button on the front). When the machine is completely powered down, you can startup to the OKR interface by pressing that button rather than the power button. If you're confident enough in yourself to do a complete install of Win8 from scratch booting from USB, then you may be interested in deleting OKR and those partitions to free up space. It's generally understood that if you modify partition structure at all, it will break OKR. Win8 does have the built-in "refresh my PC" which should not be effected. SO, it looks like the three partitions on the far right are safe to delete... be warned though, messing with partitions is risky business.

Drivers - Lenovo has a lot of custom drivers in the Yoga. While the display may be Intel and the touchpad may be Synaptics, if you download the latest drivers directly from the source (rather than from Lenovo's support page), you will lose certain functionality. Touchpad for example.. if you update to the latest Synaptics driver supported for the touchpad, it will work great, but you will lose the keyboard and touchpad turn off feature when in tablet mode or presentation mode. I'm sure the same could be said for display and rotation, etc. As long as you stick with Lenovo's (however slowly updated) official drivers, you'll be fine.

 

Thanks so much for all the info. In particular (sorry I actually didn't have a link up) i was referring to graphics drivers -- this link in particular New Driver for Intel HD Graphics 4000+ Iris 5100, and Iris Pro 5200 « Ultrabook News and the Ultrabook Database

Thanks!